Deadly Inspiration?
Teens Say Video Game Inspired Them in Deadly Highway Shooting
Sept. 5 The family of a slain motorist has filed suit against the maker of a video game that two teens claim inspired them to shoot at passing cars on a Tennessee highway.
Grand Theft Auto, a video game that allows players to "fire" on people and cars in realistic, shoot-'em-up fashion, is a cash cow that propelled manufacturer Take Two Interactive to the top of the video game industry. For the middle and high school students who play the game for hours on end, it's a means of escaping the mundaneness of teenage life. But for two stepbrothers, 16-year-old William and 14-year-old Joshua Buckner, that escape turned deadly earlier this summer. They told police they were emulating Grand Theft Auto on the night of June 25 when they took shotguns to Interstate 40, near their Newport, Tenn., home, and opened fire on vehicles. A Bullet Through the Window The boys told police they did not mean to hit people, but the results were catastrophic. "I have eight bullet fragments all in my body," said 19-year-old Kimberly Bede, of Moneta, Va., who was hit in the pelvis as she rode in the passenger seat of her boyfriend's car. "The bullet entered my hip and I'm still receiving medical treatment." Aaron Hamel, a 45-year-old registered nurse from Knoxville, Tenn., traveling in a separate car, was killed. "We were driving down the interstate, back from a great trip," said Hamel's cousin, Denise Deneau. "My cousin said, 'Look at those flowers,' and then all of sudden through my window came a bullet. The heat was so much I could feel it. On my lap, I saw broken glass and lots of blood. I thought I had been shot." But it was Hamel who had been shot. He had a bullet hole in his temple, and it was gushing blood as the car careened out of control at 70 mph, going against traffic, she said. The car finally came to a stop after hitting a guard rail. Family members say the nature of Hamel's death is especially ironic because he had volunteered to work at a Tennessee facility for wayward teens shortly before the shooting. "He was trying to help these kinds of boys. He always thought he could turn these kinds of kids around. And now look," Deneau said. Teens Plead Guilty, Lawsuit Filed The teenage shooters, who each pleaded guilty to reckless homicide, aggravated assault and reckless endangerment, will be held at a state juvenile detention center until they turn 19. The law in Tennessee allows them to remain in the custody of the state Department of Children's Services until they are 19, but no longer. In written statements, they expressed remorse for their actions. "I will always hate myself for what I did. I am so sorry," wrote William Buckner. "I didn't want to hurt anyone," wrote Joshua Buckner. "This will be with me the rest of my life." The Hamel family filed suit Thursday against Take Two Interactive, the video game maker, said attorney Jack Thompson. "The industry needs to cough up money so victims and their families can be compensated for their pain," Thompson said. "The shareholders need to know what their games are doing to kids and their families. They need to stop pushing adult rated products to kids. These products are deadly." Take-Two Interactive declined to comment to Good Morning America about the incident. Are Parents the Gatekeepers? It's not the first time the game Grand Theft Auto has been linked to bouts of real-life violence. A gang of teenagers in California, charged with plotting carjackings and murder, say their actions were inspired by playing Grand Theft Auto, morning, noon, and night. In Oakland, Calif. a group of young people who called themselves the "Nut Cases" told police they played violent video games before going out and robbing and killing random victims on the street. They said their favorite was Grand Theft Auto. The five men and one woman are facing charges in dozens of robberies and five killings that took place in 2002 and early 2003. The Entertainment Software Association, which represents the video game industry, pointed to research showing that youth crime has gone down even as video games have proliferated. The games are rated for violence, and ultimately, parents make the decisions about what games they bring into their homes, the association said in a statement. "Parents are present at and involved in the purchase or rental of games 83 percent of the time, according to a September 2000 Federal Trade Commission report," the association said. Family members of those killed in video game-related shooting sprees say it is time to take Grand Theft Auto off the market, before more lives are lost. "A part of me died that night that he died. It just died," said Rosemary Hamel, Aaron's mother. "You just don't know a mother's loss. We were so close, and now he's gone."
Horrible crime, tragic loss of human life, but blame a video game?
Teens Say Video Game Inspired Them in Deadly Highway Shooting
Sept. 5 The family of a slain motorist has filed suit against the maker of a video game that two teens claim inspired them to shoot at passing cars on a Tennessee highway.
Grand Theft Auto, a video game that allows players to "fire" on people and cars in realistic, shoot-'em-up fashion, is a cash cow that propelled manufacturer Take Two Interactive to the top of the video game industry. For the middle and high school students who play the game for hours on end, it's a means of escaping the mundaneness of teenage life. But for two stepbrothers, 16-year-old William and 14-year-old Joshua Buckner, that escape turned deadly earlier this summer. They told police they were emulating Grand Theft Auto on the night of June 25 when they took shotguns to Interstate 40, near their Newport, Tenn., home, and opened fire on vehicles. A Bullet Through the Window The boys told police they did not mean to hit people, but the results were catastrophic. "I have eight bullet fragments all in my body," said 19-year-old Kimberly Bede, of Moneta, Va., who was hit in the pelvis as she rode in the passenger seat of her boyfriend's car. "The bullet entered my hip and I'm still receiving medical treatment." Aaron Hamel, a 45-year-old registered nurse from Knoxville, Tenn., traveling in a separate car, was killed. "We were driving down the interstate, back from a great trip," said Hamel's cousin, Denise Deneau. "My cousin said, 'Look at those flowers,' and then all of sudden through my window came a bullet. The heat was so much I could feel it. On my lap, I saw broken glass and lots of blood. I thought I had been shot." But it was Hamel who had been shot. He had a bullet hole in his temple, and it was gushing blood as the car careened out of control at 70 mph, going against traffic, she said. The car finally came to a stop after hitting a guard rail. Family members say the nature of Hamel's death is especially ironic because he had volunteered to work at a Tennessee facility for wayward teens shortly before the shooting. "He was trying to help these kinds of boys. He always thought he could turn these kinds of kids around. And now look," Deneau said. Teens Plead Guilty, Lawsuit Filed The teenage shooters, who each pleaded guilty to reckless homicide, aggravated assault and reckless endangerment, will be held at a state juvenile detention center until they turn 19. The law in Tennessee allows them to remain in the custody of the state Department of Children's Services until they are 19, but no longer. In written statements, they expressed remorse for their actions. "I will always hate myself for what I did. I am so sorry," wrote William Buckner. "I didn't want to hurt anyone," wrote Joshua Buckner. "This will be with me the rest of my life." The Hamel family filed suit Thursday against Take Two Interactive, the video game maker, said attorney Jack Thompson. "The industry needs to cough up money so victims and their families can be compensated for their pain," Thompson said. "The shareholders need to know what their games are doing to kids and their families. They need to stop pushing adult rated products to kids. These products are deadly." Take-Two Interactive declined to comment to Good Morning America about the incident. Are Parents the Gatekeepers? It's not the first time the game Grand Theft Auto has been linked to bouts of real-life violence. A gang of teenagers in California, charged with plotting carjackings and murder, say their actions were inspired by playing Grand Theft Auto, morning, noon, and night. In Oakland, Calif. a group of young people who called themselves the "Nut Cases" told police they played violent video games before going out and robbing and killing random victims on the street. They said their favorite was Grand Theft Auto. The five men and one woman are facing charges in dozens of robberies and five killings that took place in 2002 and early 2003. The Entertainment Software Association, which represents the video game industry, pointed to research showing that youth crime has gone down even as video games have proliferated. The games are rated for violence, and ultimately, parents make the decisions about what games they bring into their homes, the association said in a statement. "Parents are present at and involved in the purchase or rental of games 83 percent of the time, according to a September 2000 Federal Trade Commission report," the association said. Family members of those killed in video game-related shooting sprees say it is time to take Grand Theft Auto off the market, before more lives are lost. "A part of me died that night that he died. It just died," said Rosemary Hamel, Aaron's mother. "You just don't know a mother's loss. We were so close, and now he's gone."
Horrible crime, tragic loss of human life, but blame a video game?
